I want to thank everyone for the comments on my socks in the previous post – they have brought me much cheer and encouragement! The pattern file is open once again and I am going to get back to it in short order. In the meanwhile, though, I finally have this Finished Object to show off:

Um. I mentioned before how taking photos of yourself is really hard, right? Yeah. There are about a dozen more shots in the trash, heh. But I did manage to get a few worth showing, that display the vest in all its glory. The steeks worked. The fair isle was wonderful. The pattern is well written. I’m so happy with it I don’t even mind including a shot with my rear end in it. ;)

Pattern: Ivy League Vest, by Eunny Jang, Interweave Knits 2007 (scroll down)Yarn: Knit Picks Palette (substituted; in twig, cream, tidepool heather, blue note heather, brindle heather, and mist) I only needed 1 ball of each for the 34.5 inch size, which makes this project a freakin’ bargoon.Needles: 3.5mm on the fair isle, 3.75mm on the ribbingModifications: I knew from the get-go that I wanted to add length to this to bring it just over the top of my hips. I did this by adding 2 small peeries at the bottom before beginning the waist-shaping. I also up-sized the needles on the ribbing and on the two peeries that I added before the waist-shaping, to allow for a bit more room in the hips. This worked out well, and in fact I think I could have gone up another needle-size on the ribbing. I think next time I wash it I will block the ribbing out a little more widely, as it is rippling slightly just below the waist.

I omitted the purl ‘seam’ stitch at each side, and unintentionally deviated from the colour chart when I flubbed a few times and didn’t change the background colour or foreground colour when I was supposed to. I think it still looks good, though. I’m a happy camper.

As far as the steeks go – well, it was all fine. I’d done steeks before, but only using the Philosopher’s Wool method of cutting alongside a single column of ‘purl’ stitches that are first reinforced with a sewing machine. I left these Ivy League steeks without reinforcement before cutting, which is fine when your steeks are 8-10 sts wide. Post-cutting and post-ribbing, I trimmed the steeks to neaten them and then reinforced with a row of single crochet. So far, so good, it all seems to be holding up nicely.

You just rock, completely and totally. That is one of the very prettiest FI I’ve seen, the colours are to dream about.
ok… I counted… 6 colours… holy moly… 12 bucks… that’s beyond bargoooooon!
And it’s a shapely derriere ye have there, Lass :^) (those are all great photos!)

Okay, you’ve sealed it for me. I am definitely getting off my arse and jumping into the wonderful world of stranded knitting. Glad I have Fiona Ellis’ colourwork class at the DKC this weekend to jumpstart my efforts!

I recently signed up for Chemistry.com…because I need to have my head examined…and needed a recent photo of my gorgeous mug as I cut off 8 inches from my hair since the last time the paparazzi caught up with me. One hundred and fifty one photos later, I found three, count ‘em one, two, three photos that didn’t make me look:
a) retarded and/or dorky
b) six hundred pounds (I blame the round Charlie Brown head on my Polish genes)
c) high
d) some combination of a, b, or c